Trolley-wheel.



E. E. EBY.

TROLLEY WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED mm]. 1914.

Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

ran sra'rns mama orrron.

EARL E. EBY, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T WESTINGHOUSEELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

TBOLLEY-WHEEL.

msaeae.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

Application filed January 7, 1914. Serial No. 810,768.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL E. EBY, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Wilkinsburg in the county of Allegheny and State ofkennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Im rovement inTrolley-Wheels,

' of which the ollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to trolley wheels, and

it has for its object to provide a device of 1c the characterindicated'which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction,efficient in operation, and particularly adapted by reason of thepeculiar arrangement of its parts, to withstand wear and satisfactorilyin conduct current from a trolley conductor to the trolley harp withoutundue heating and loss of energy.

More specifically, the object of my invention is to provide a trolleywheel, which is no mounted rotatably on a shaft that is fixed to thetrolley harp and to provide adequate means for 0011 noting current fromthe wheel to the shaft through the agency of a conducting fluid.

28 It is the usual practice to rotatably mount a trolley wheel upon ashaft which is carried by the harp, and to depend upon the movingcontact engagement between the parts for carrying part of the current,while the reto maining portion thereof is collected by side springswhich are fixed to the harp and have frictional and electricalengagement with the ends of the wheel hubs. Many difliculties areexperienced in the operation of 85 trolley wheels of this type, inasmuchas there is usually insufficient contact surface and considerablefrictional resistance which tends to cause excessive and destructivewear and to prevent the wheel from rotating W freely, thus causing it toslip along the trolley conductor to a certain degree.

It is the specific purpose of my invention to overcome thesedifficulties and to improve the maintenance and operation of this classM of devices, and, in a broader sense, I propose to provide means foreffectively shunting energy around a joint or bearing between relativelymovable members of any nature and any class of apparatus, by means of aW conducting fluid. The single figure of the accompanying drawing is aview, partially in section and partially in elevation, of a deviceconstructed in accordance with my invention.

Referring to the drawing, the device shown comprises a trolley harp 1embodying a plurality of projecting arms 2 and 3, a shaft 4 fixedlysecured in position between sa d arms, a trolley wheel 5 provided withsuitable bearing members 6 rotatably 0 mounted upon the shaft 4 andhaving a central chamber 7 therein, in which a disk or member 8 ofconducting material is disposed. The disk 8 is rigidly associated withthe shaft 4 and is stationary, so far as ro- 5 tatable movement isconcerned. A body of conducting fluid 9, such as mercury or the llke, isdisposed within the chamber 7 in lntlmate contact with the inner wallsof the wheel 5 and with the conducting member 8.

The harp 1 may be of any suitable constructlon, and the bearing members6, although preferably of the type known as graph1te bearing, may varyin constructlon or may be omitted entirely, in which case the wheel 5may constitute its own bear.- lng members. I

In the preferred form of my invention, I employ a removable annular tireor tread member 10 of good wearing and conducting so material which mayhave a screw threaded engagement with complemental parts 11 and 12 whichconstitute the flange members of the Wheel 5. The flange members 11 and12 may also be secured together by pins 13, if 35 desired. Otherarrangements of arts which will permit of the positioning 0 the disk 8within the recess 7 may be employed.

When the wheel 5 is stationary, the conducting fluid 9 occupies theposition shown in the drawing and makes electrical contact with thesides of the wheel and the centrally disposed stationary disk member 8,whereby current which is taken from a trolley conductor (not shown) isconducted from th wheel 5 to the shaft 4 and harp 1.

In case the wheel is rotating under service conditions, the conductingfluid 9 is thrown out centrifugally into the peripheral portion of thechamber 7 where it serves to make an effective electrical connectionbetween the moving wheel 5 and disk member 8.

Many modifications in structural details and in the arrangement andlocation of parts may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a trolley harp, a shaft fixedly mounted therein,and a trolley wheel rotatably mountedupon said shaft 110 and having acentral chamber therein, of a conducting disk disposed in said chamberand fixed to said shaft, and a body of conducting fluid contained in thechamber of said rotatable wheel. 2. The combination with a trolley harpand a shaft fixedly mounted therein, of a trolley wheel rotatablymounted upon said shaft and having a central chamber therein, and a bodyof conducting fluid contained in the chamber of said rotatable wheel.

3Q The combination with a trolley harp, a shaft-fixedly mounted uponsaid harp, and a rotatable trolley wheel having a chamber thereinadjacent to said shaft, of a body of conducting fluid disposed in thechamber of said rotatable wheel. Z

4:. The combination with a trolley harp, a shaft rigidly associatedtherewith, and a trolley wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft andhaving a central chamber therein, of a conducting member rigidly securedto said shaft and disposed in said'chamber, and a body of conductingfluid disposed in said chamber of said rotatable wheel in intimateengagement with the wheel and said conducting member. I

5. The combination with a fixed shaft, a member rigidly secured theretoand another member rotatably mounted thereon and having a pocket inwhich said first member is disposed, of a body of conducting fluiddisposed withm said pocket for carrying cur-- rent around the surfacesof frictional engagement and adapted to be thrown outwardly bycentrifugal force to make electrical connection between said membersthroughout the entire periphery of saidfirst member and of the innerwall of said pocket.

6. The combination with a supporting member, a shaft rigidly associatedtherewith and a member rotatably mounted on said shaft and having acentral chamber therein, of a conducting member secured to said shaftand disposed in said chamber, and a body of conducting fluid containedin said chamber in intimate engagement with said rotatable vmember andsaid conducting member and adapted to be thrown outwardly by centrifugalforce to make electrical connection between said rotatable member andsaid conducting member throughout the entire adjacent concentricsurfaces of said memers.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st dayof Dec. 1913.

EARL E. EBY.

Witnesses:

S. W. FARNSWORTH,

B. B. HINES.-

